We traveled all over North Jersey and when we reached Manville NJ we headed to the City hall where we were to "take a 270 around Manila John." We found a statue which was titled Manila John and went on.
We reached the pancake roadhouse and came in second. I worked in the library and was a history major. I looked up Manila John and would give a speech about this Jersey Hero for ROTC class!
I'm addicted to War Stories. When I entered the Air Force on Graduation I was assigned to Perrin Field in Texas. My boss, the Base Commander was a WW2 P-51 pilot and spent 15 months as a Japanese POW. My next door neighbor was a Flying Tiger! I ran over General Putnam who was the last fighter pilot in Jthe Phillipines. When Mac Arthur withdrew in early 42 he took Capt Putman on that PT Boat ride! One of my History Profs said that much of history is a retell of war stories, like the Illiad and Odessey!
the end of this show, part 10, was heartbreaking.. God, what these poor boys had to go through.. just horrible. God bless them.
Can I put in a nice word for the Soldiers who fought alongside the Marines in the Pacific?
The only episode I have seen (and only part of it) showed Marines on a beach firing upon a weaponless Japanese soldier for sport. Not what I would call “The Pacific” doing Marine’s “proud”.
IMO, they tried to use the “Band of Brothers” template, but without the depth and originality of BOB.
Overall, it was way too much of a navel-gazing and depressing look at a very small slice of American military history.
The character development was thin, and most of the story lines were weak. I found myself uninterested in most of the characters. I knew the story of Basilone, so that was no surprise.
It was a good series. But IMHO “Band of Brothers” was better.